The company says they are making the reductions to sustain profitable sales growth in the future.

"Our company has significantly increased sales and profitability over the past four years, and we have created a culture of growth at Macy's Inc," said Macy's Inc. chairman, president and chief executive officer, Terry Lundgren. "We have identified some specific areas where we can improve our efficiency without compromising our effectiveness in serving the evolving needs of our customers."

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The company made the announcement on the same day it said holiday sales were up 3.6 percent in 2013.

Shares of Macy's rose 5.5 percent in after hours trading Wednesday, according to the Associated Press.

KSTP reports none of the five store closures are in Minnesota and neither are any of the eight new store locations. KSTP says at this point it is unclear if employees in Minnesota will be impacted by the layoffs.